Sheet-registering mechanism.



LuMlDDLEDlTCH SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 6, I9I4- 1,252,604, Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

I 3 $HEEI'3SHEET I- L. MIDDLEDITCH.

SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, 1914.

1 ,259,60%. Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- L. MIDDLEDITCH. SHEET REGISTERING MECHANiSM.APPLICATION FILED JULY 6. 1914.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

LYMAN MIDDLEDITCH, OF NEVJ YORK, N. Y.

SHEET-REGISTERING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. S, 1918.

Application filed July 6, 1914. Serial No. 849 284.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LYMAN Mmnnnnrron, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and StateofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-Registering Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to registering devices and has forits main object simple and effective means for positively moving thesheet into register with a guide and for maintaining it in registerafter the registering members have ceased to act upon the same.

The invention consists more particularly in an upper and a lowerregistering member which engage the sheet on opposite sides thereof andfrictionally carry it into register with the guide. In the preferredembodiment here shown the lower registering member is slidably mountedwhile the upper registering member moves in a curvilinear path. Thesemembers move with the same surface speed when engaging the sheet so asto prevent buckling or improper movement of the sheet during theregister. In connection with the above there is also employed a topguide which engages the sheet at a point outside the plane in which thelower slid- .able registering member is located. Thls top guidepreferably engages the sheet in advance of the time that the registeringmembers take hold of the sheet and stays in contact therewith untilafter the registering members have ceased to act upon the sheet. Theresult of this construction is that after the registering members haveceased to move the sheet forward the top guide will prevent the sheetfrom springing back from the side guide, as it would do if the paper hadbecome buckled during the registering action.

Other features of construction, combination of parts and arrangement ofelements will appear as the specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is embodied in a concrete andpreferred form but changes of construction may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appendedclaims.

In the said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a registering mechanism embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 3,certain parts being omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are views substantially like Fig. 4 and illustratingdifferent stages of the operation from that shown in Fig. 4.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thedifferent views.

1 indicates the bed of the machine piovided with a groove 2 in which theframing 8 of the registering mechanism is adjustably mounted, the saidbed being provided with a number of holes 4 into which the bolts 5 maybe secured after moving the frame 3 to the desired position.

6 is a shaft forming a part of the feeding machine provided with a bevelgear 7 keyed to the shaft 6 and adjustable lengthwise thereof in awell-known manner. The framing 8 of the registering mechanism carriesarotatable shaft 8 provided with bevel gears 9 at its opposite ends,thereby making the device reversible so that motion may be imparted bythe said shaft 8 by either gear 9 meshing with the gear 7, the latterbeing reversed to correspond with the position of carriage 3. Looselymounted on the shaft 8, or in a bushing thereof, are two supporting arms10 which carry on their outer ends a shaft 11. Motion is imparted to thegear 13 loose on shaft 11 by means of the gear 12 fast on the shaft .8.The gear 18 also carries a cam 13 which by engaging with the bearer 14suitably mounted on a stud 15, causes the shaft 11 to be raised andlowered by the rotation of the parts. The gear 13 further carries theupper registering member 16 which, when the arms 10 are lowered and thegear 13 is rotated at definite periods, engages the sheet on the uppersides thereof. A spring 17 urges the cam 13 into engagement with thebearer 14 and provides sutficient tension to exert a pull on the sheet.

Mounted in the sheet support 18 is a slidable lower registering member19, said lower and upper registering members being in the same verticalplane so that the paper will be gripped between the two. The said lowerregistering member 19 is provided with a rack 20 which is actuated by asector :21

mounted on the center 15 and adapted to receive an oscillating motion.In order to impart a uniform surface speed to the said lower member 19,the sector 21 is preferably moved in one direction by gear means, shownhere as two teeth 22 and 23, one of which is carried by the rotatingshaft 8 and the other of which is connected to the sector 21. The saidsector 21 is further provided with a cam extension 2st adapted to beengaged by the restoring member 25 moving with the gear 13. 26 is a topguide pivotally supported on the center 27 and connected by means of arod 28 and pin. and slot connection 29 to an extension 30 forming a partof the arms 10. A spring 31 is provided whereby when the top guide is inits lowermost position the paper will be held under slight tension. Saidtop guide, of which there are shown two in this instance, engages thepaper at a point outside the vertical plane of the lower slidablymounted registering member 19. 32 is the guide, in this instance a sideguide, against which the sheet is registered.

After the sheet is fed into position between the upper and lowerregistering members 16 and 19, the operation of the parts is so timedthat the top guide 26 descends and holds the sheet with a slight tensionagainst the sheet support 18. The arms 10 are now lowered, the member 16meanwhile rotating, and the said member 16 clamps the sheet against thelower member 19. The parts are now substantially in the position shownin Fig. 4 and the upper and lower registering members now movesimultaneously at a uniform speed, thus drawing the sheet sidewise intoengagement with the side guide 32, the sheet being prevented frombuckling or froi otherwise becoming displaced by the top guide 26. Whenthe sheet has been brought into register the arms 10 ascend and thelower member 19 has reached the limit of its motion in one direction,the top guide 26, however, remaining in contact with the sheet, as shownin Fig. 6. The top guide 26 now rises out of engagement with the sheetand the continued rotation of the gear 13 now brings the restoringmember 25 over against the cam extension 24f of the sector 21 and movesit back into its original position, thereby advancing the lower member19 ready to receive a new sheet. This stage of the operation is shown inFig. 7

It is of course understood that after the sheet has been side registeredit will be moved away in the usual manner and brought down to theprinting or other machine-to which it may be contemplated to send it.

lVh-at is claimed, is:

1. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a guide, two registeringmembers frictionally engaging the sheet on opposite sides to register itagainst the guide, a movable top guide adjacent to the first guide andunder which the sheet is drawn to prevent buckling, and means forcausing said top guide to engage the sheet substantially not later thanthe registering members move the sheet and to remain in contacttherewith until after the registering members release the sheet.

2. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a guide, two registeringmembers for frictionallyengaging the sheet on opposite sides to registerit against the guide, means for imparting a uniform surface speed tosaid registering members, a top guide adjacent to the first guide underwhich the sheet is drawn to prevent buckling, and means for causing saidtop guide to engage the sheet substantially not later than theregistering members move the sheet and to remain in contact therewithuntil after the registering members release the sheet.

8. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a guide, two registeringmembers acting on opposite sides of the sheet to register it against theguide, one an upper member having a curvilinear motion, the other alower member having a rectilinear motion, means for actuating saidmembers, a top guide adjacent to the first guide under which the sheetis drawn to prevent buckling, and means for causing said top guide toengage the sheet substantially not later than the registering membersmove the sheet and to remain in contact therewith untilafter the sheetis released by the registering members.

4. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a guide, two registeringmembers acting on opposite sides of the sheet to register it against theguide, one an upper member having a curvilinear motion, the other alower member having a rectilinear motion, means for imparting a uniformsurface speed to said members, a top guide adjacent to the first guideunder which the sheet is drawn to prevent buckling, and means forcausing said top guide to engage the sheet substantially not later thanthe registering members move the sheet and to remain in contacttherewith until after the sheet is released by the registering members.

5. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a rotatable shaft, anotherrotatable member, supporting means for the second shaft pivotallymounted on the first shaft,

means for imparting rotation to the secondmember from the first shaft,means for lifting and lowering the second member, an upper registeringmember carried by the said second member, a slidably mounted lowerregistering member, an oscillating member for effecting thereciprocation of said slidable member, means carried by the first shaftfor moving said oscillating member in one direction, and means carriedby the second member for moving said oscillating member in the otherdirection.

6. In a registering device, a lower registering member slidably mounted,a rack carried thereby, a sector mounted to oscillate and adapted toengage with said rack, a rotating member for moving said oscillatingmember in one direction, another rotating member for moving it in theopposite direction, an upper registering member, and means for .causingsaid upper registering member to operatively engage the sheet.

7. In a registering mechanism, a lower registering member slidablymounted, a rack carried thereby, an oscillating sector adapted to engagesaid rack, a rotating member, gear means between said rotating memberand said sector for moving it in one direction, and cam mechanism formoving said sector in the other direction.

8. In a registering mechanism, a lower registering member slidablymounted, a rack carried thereby, an oscillating sector adapted to engagesaid rack, a rotating member, gear means between said rotating memberand said sector for moving it in one direction, another rotating member,cam

means between said second rotating member and said oscillating memberfor 'moving it in the opposite direction, and an upper registeringmember mounted on said second rotating member.

9. Sheet registering mechanism comprising: a sheet support, a guideagainst which the sheet is to be registered, a lower slidableregistering member mounted in said sheet support, means forreciprocating said memher, an upper registering member adapted to engagethe sheet above the reciprocating member in the sheet support, means foractuating said upper registering member, and a top guide adapted toengage said sheet at a point outside the plane of the lower slidablemember.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York,this 2nd day of July A. D. 1914.

LYMAN MIDDLEDITCH.

Witnesses AXEL V. BEEKEN, TERESA V. LYNCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

